Animorphs Redux
by Crab Helmet
Summary: A reboot of the Animorphs franchise, featuring pre-existing themes such as the Yeerk and the Andalites, but with all new characters and scenarios.
1. Introduction

**A (Not So) Brief Foreword**

Where to start? Well, the Animorphs series was among among the first set of books I read. I was eight years old, and beginning to move into the great sea of fiction, and Animorphs was that first real step, borrowed from my local library. They only had a seven of them, and I certainly didn't read them in chronological order, but I still became addicted, and over the course of the next few years managed to read all but a few titles. However, this was all a while back now. I'd forgotten all about them to be honest, having moved on to various other things (I'm rather a large Terry Pratchett fan now, and I also love Philip Reeve's Moving Cities Quartet). But, a few weeks back, whilst browsing at the library of the new town I now live in (I'm Australian by birth, but because of my father's job I've been all over the place. I first read the books in New Zealand, but I moved to Britain recently, and checked out the local library for the first time a few weeks back), I found the books, and began to read them once more.

Eventually, I managed to hunt down #54, one of the few I hadn't read. You're probably thinking right now "ah, so he didn't like the ending and is now going to write a fan fiction alternate ending and then follow from that". Well, you'd be wrong. =P In fact, I loved the ending. My problem was, overall, I think I'd moved on too much. The literary quality of the books wasn't bad, it was still as good as it ever, but I was certainly no longer the intended target audience. Jake started when the war when he was 13, and it was finished by the time he was 16. This made good reading for an eight year old, but I'm 16 myself now, and many of the older books no longer seem to have the same strength as they did, I find it more difficult to relate to the characters. So, I decided I'd write some fan fiction for the older readers like myself. However, this had another problem. If I wasn't going to write about the younger characters, then the only real option I had left was a prequel to #1 or a sequel to number #54.

The trouble was, neither of those options felt right. Setting the books after #54 meant that the Animorphs would now be adults, more or less. This put me off for two reasons. The first is that as I have yet to achieve adulthood myself, it would be difficult for me to realistically write from that view point. The second is that I believe the fact the Animorphs are children is quite important. The books are in a way coming of age stories, and I didn't really want to touch that. While I was looking at the 15 to 18 range in terms of age, that's still young enough for someone not to really have settled within themselves. So, that left a prequel to #1, but I dismissed this out of hand, considering the events which set up the series have been very clearly explained, and there's no real need to do anything.

This left me with a conundrum – how could I write a fan fiction if there was no room for it within the existing continuity? Which was how I came up with my idea – an Animorphs Redux. Instead of writing from within the existing continuity, I'd abandon it, and start anew, a whole new canon. I'd use key themes from the previous series, such as the Yeerks, the Ellimist, the Andalites, but use new characters, new stories, new backgrounds, and so on. It'd give me the freedom to write what I want to write, while still keeping the Animorphs spirit (or at least, I hope it does. =P ) So, without further ado, here goes the first part of Animorphs Book 1: The End.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

_//run HMODULE sdl_library = ;_

_Video archives loading._

_Video archives loaded. Interview #1, subject: "Lyall --" [censored for security reasons]._

Where to start? I'm Lyall, but seeing as the video header says that anyway, I guess you knew. I'd tell you my last name, but Sorn insists that I keep my identity secret, in case this is found by a host. Personally, I don't think it matters much, seeing as if this has been found, then we're almost certainly dead anyway, and even if we're not, we're about to divulge most of our secrets, but hey. Anything to keep Sorn happy. Still, I'll assume you are free-willed.

So.

We decided the best way to do this was to use a timed email. We picked a small internet site, that we visited using a proxy. It's an advice site for teenagers, run by teenagers and recommended by our local council. Sorn and Fahd made a basic program which, if we don't reset it once per month, counts down over forty days. If it reaches the end of that countdown, it will post a message on this advice board, via the proxy, with the GPS locations of where we buried the video archive discs, and the Escafil device. Seeing as you've found this, I'll assume you are a teenager, probably in your mid teens, or in other words, exactly the sort of person we'd want to find the Escafil device. There's many reasons why we decided you were the best sort of person.

To some part, it's because we started this when we were 16. We understand what it will be like for you, and we feel the advice these video archives have will apply to you more than anyone else. Another reason would be that they don't take many hosts under the age of twenty or so – they're not particularly useful, and are only assigned to junior Yeerk. This means that you are unlikely to be a host. The third reason is because we do not believe an adult is capable anyway. They'd attempt to go to the police, or contact the government, which is exactly the wrong move. At 16, you have the mindset of youth and determination, with none of the humdrum limitations of adults.

I mentioned the word "Yeerk" back there. I should probably explain. The Yeerk are

_Subject: "Sornevan-Errendir-Barhara" interrupts transmission at this point._

I judge that this explanation will be of optimal assistance if you commence from point in time at which you became involved, as opposed to commencing in the centre of the story, Lyall.

_Subject: "Lyall --" recommences._

I suppose Sorn is right. I guess I'm throwing you in at the deep end a little here, huh? I owe it to you to set things out a little better. I'll try to start at the start.

I'm not going to tell you exactly where we live. Seeing as we're teenagers and international travel is currently not really an option, then you've probably guessed that yes, we do live here in Britain, where you found the disc. Aside from that, we could live anywhere. Could be London, could be Edinburgh, could be Cardiff.

Who knows, could be in the same town as you.

Anyway, the following stories will tell you how it all happened, and hopefully give some useful advice – i.e., don't do whatever it was that got us killed.

Here we go.

My life was fairly standard, you know? I was an average kinda guy. Went to the local school, messed around with my friends whenever I wasn't in school. My ambition was to make it big in football, join the county squad. I would have, too. I was centre wing-back on the school team, which was an important position – we played 3-5-2, you see, so I had to set up our striker all the time.

Sorry, I got distracted a little there. It is... it _was_ my dream, you know? Certainly, it's better than my current ambition of still being alive tomorrow.

It was an ordinary Saturday afternoon. Bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. I was down at the football field, burning time. Basically just making random shots at the goal, and practising keep ups, not a lot. I think I'd got to about four or five when Jack turned up.

Jack was my best mate. He was the striker I mentioned earlier. Together, we were amazing. He's a little taller than I am, blond hair, blue eyes. The girls go crazy for him. We basically ruled the school, more or less. I guess I'd better be honest; we weren't the nicest to everyone. Jack and I and the rest of the football team knew we were the best. We were the cool kids, the elite. If you weren't one of us, you were a nobody, pretty much, and we were probably assholes. It seemed so fun at the time... I don't think I really ever thought about what other people might think until after it happened.

"Haha, my main man!" Jack shouted cheerily. "How's it goin'?"

"'s all good. You?" I replied.

"Great. You heard the news about Lily?" Jack winked.

Lily (well, her full name is Lilith but she hates it) is... wow. She's this girl in our year, and is an easy ten out of ten. Long, blonde hair, green eyes, figure like a goddess. I mean, damn, that girl is fine. I have such a massive crush on her, and Jack never stopped teasing me about it back then.

"Nope." I tried to act casual, like I didn't care too much. Really, I knew that Lily was throwing a massive party round her place, and was dead nervous about it, but I was going to pretend I didn't know anything about it.

"Throwing a party. Four o'clock today. Could be your big chance." Jack grinned at this. "Gonna sweep her off her feet?"

"Very funny, Jack." I said, somewhat sourly.

"Haha, you'll do fine. Come on, if we start walking to her place, we can arrive fashionably late." He smoothed his hair back and made a mock pose. "You'll need to make a good impression."

I smiled at him. He was just totally irrepressible. "Come on, then."

Lily's house isn't far out of town, about a half an hour an walk away. It goes through a big farming area. It was summertime, so the fields were filled with corn, and all the while the sun was still beating down, from a sky was so vividly blue it was almost unreal. Hah, it didn't feel like Britain at all. Seems to me most days in Britain all you get is rain. If you'd seen us, you could have mistaken it for some place like France. At the start of the walk, it was kinda pleasant, but twenty minutes in and we were unbelievably hot and sweaty, drudging along a dusty gravel track through the hedgerows, surrounded by the golden fields.

We had just reached the top of a particularly steep hill, when suddenly, Jack stopped. "Well, look who we have here, Lyall. If it ain't Wheels McGee."

I should probably explain here. Lilith has a cousin, right. His name is Sean. When he was born, he suffered from spina bifida, which is a birth defect which stops some of the spinal bones fusing properly. He was born paraplegic, and can't control his legs. Obviously, this meant he used a wheelchair to get around.

I know, I was a bastard. Guess I still am. But Jack and I never really thought about what he must feel like, you know? He was in a wheelchair, and he was kinda quiet and shy, so we made fun of him. Called him names, Wheels McGee being our favourite. Bullied him pretty badly, sometimes.

Anyway, where he lives, the local school doesn't have disability access or anything, so his parents sent him to live with Lilith, so that he could go to our school, which does.

Jack smirked. "So, Wheels, why ain't you at the party?"

Sean was just looking up at the sky, whilst moving the wheels along. Dunno how he could, it was too bright for me to look up.

"I guess I'm not a party guy." He replied calmly.

"What you talking about, man? All the girls would want to get with you. I mean seriously, your ride is _beast_."

I laughed at that, a little cruelly. Jack pressed on.

"Tell you what, why don't we take you back to that there party? You could have yourself a real good time!" Quickly, he jumped behind Sean and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair, and began to wheel Sean around, heading backwards along the road to the party, going faster and faster.

"Stop it." Sean quietly said, gripping the arms of his wheelchair tightly. I was laughing so hard at this stage, and so was Jack, Sean looked like some sort of gangly insect in the speeding wheelchair, all limbs and jerky movement.

"Why, what you going to do about it?" I mocked.

"Leave him alone!" A female voice. It had come from behind us. I looked round to see Mai and Fahd. Fahd used to be a friend of mine, a while back. He's black and quite tall. He shaves his head so that there's just the tiniest bit of hair left, and wears a pair of rectangular half-rim glasses, which cover his brown, almost black, eyes. He is smart. Like, really smart. We used to be really good friends before secondary school, but when we moved into secondary school and I met Jack, we kinda drifted apart.

The girl who'd spoken was Mai. She's British by birth, but her mother is Japanese, so she has an interesting look. She wears her black hair quite short and cropped, and never really goes in for make-up and stuff like all the other girls do. I guess she's kinda cute, but I pity the guy who says that to her, because she's intensely feisty and excels in deadpan sarcasm. I didn't really know her too well back then, just that she was one of the unpopular kids, and that Fahd spent most of his time hanging out with her these days. As far as I could work out, they weren't a couple, just good friends.

"Woah. See, Lyall? Didn't I tell you Sean could pull girls like crazy?" grinned Jack. "Well, little lady, what you going to do about it?"

I was slightly uneasy at this point. Now Fahd had turned up, Sean didn't seem so funny any more. I felt a bit ashamed of myself, and was secretly wish Jack would stop, that the joke was over.

"Wow, casual sexism and taunting somebody about their disability. You're _such_ a cool guy, Jack. Really, how do you do it?" Mai wielded each word like a honed blade, cutting Jack short.

Jack stopped smiling. He let go of the wheelchair, and walked over to Mai, looming over her. "I really wouldn't do that."

I tried to cool things down a bit. "Come off it, Jack, just calm down a bit. It's way too hot to think straight, let's just get to Lily's place and get ourselves a drink." I looked to Fahd for support.

Jack totally ignored me, and kept staring Mai straight in the eyes. She didn't flinch. "Stupid bitch." He muttered.

There was a blur of motion that I barely caught, and Jack was sprawled onto the ground. Sean had quickly wheeled forward and struck Jack firmly across the bridge of the nose. Jack swore loudly, and his nose began to bleed.

"Don't ever call her that again." Sean said.

Jack looked at him, then suddenly leapt to his feet and smashed Sean back, and then with all his might pushed the wheelchair back down the hill. It tipped over, and the wheelchair went rolling down the hill hard into the cornfields, followed by Sean. Jack spat after him, then ran off down the road in the direction of Lilith's house.

Mai and Fahd both ran at once down the hill to where Sean had fallen. I was torn. Did I go after Jack, or check if Sean was alright? I looked briefly at the disappearing figure of Jack, then dashed down the hill towards Sean.

Fahd got there first, and quickly stooped down to check how Sean was. "How are you, Sean? You feel okay?"

Sean gritted his teeth a little, then said shakily "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You absolutely sure about that?" said Fahd. "Don't try to be manly or anything about it, just tell it straight."

"Really, I'm fine. Just a few bruises."

I got there at about the same time as Mai. She looked at me disappointedly. "You two are assholes. Total, utter arseholes."

There's not a lot you can say to that.

"Guys, where'd my wheelchair go?" Sean asked.

"It won't be hard to find." I said. "It's flattened all the corn, look. I'll go find it." I felt this urge to help, to redeem myself a little, I guess. I knelt down and picked Sean up, hoisting him over my back. He was heavy, but I'm fairly strong, so it wasn't too much trouble. I headed off in the direction of the flattened crops left in the wake of the wheelchair, Mai and Fahd following.

A few metres later, and we stopped. The wheelchair was just in front of us, but that wasn't the odd thing. It was strange – the pressure suddenly dropped like a stone. My ears suddenly popped, like they would on a plane trip. All around us, the corn began to rustle frantically, shaking and twisting, although there was no wind at all. We all saw it almost the same time. It was a huge haze-shape in the air – it looked the same as the surrounding sky, only rippling and contorting. It was travelling much faster than any kind of airplane, but then suddenly it slowed down, before halting in the air, not more than fifty metres away from us, the corn underneath where it hovered totally flattened by some strange force.

It was Fahd who broke the silence.

"It's a spaceship."


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

I laughed. Only, it wasn't really a laugh. It was a strange hysterical giggle. My heart was pounding inside my chest like crazy. I dropped Sean into the wheelchair and stumbled back a few steps.

Mai spoke first. "Guys, it's... look!" She pointed, a trembling arm out-stretched. Part of the rippling air began to solidy, colour began to spread throughout. It was a deep blue-black colour, with a metallic sheen to it. It spread further, and the writhing, contorting air began to take shape, an outline appearing.

It didn't look like the stereotypical "flying saucer" you see on television and stuff. It was about the size of a double-decker bus. The main part was a long, fairly thin shaft, around the width of a car, which was made of some sort of white substance, which had a metallic sheen. Extending from this shaft were two wing-like contraptions either side, with a purple-blue glow drifting from two openings on each wing. It would have looked totally harmless, if it hadn't been for what protruded from the underside – it was almost tail-like, a curved segment of the same white metal that ended with a lethally sharp looking spike that stuck out just beyond the nose of the ship.

Mai took two slow steps backwards. "That... that looks like a weapon."

Oddly, Fahd didn't seem as scared as the rest of us. Sean and Mai looked terrified, and I knew I was, my whole body was almost buckling from a petrifying fear, but the expression on Fahd's face was amazement, an awed gaze.

"Yes. A weapon." His voice was steady.

The ship slowly began to sink in the air. It was landing.

"It's not real!" said Sean. "I won't believe it!" He shook his head, as though he was trying to clear it of some strange dream, as though it would all go away if he denied it hard enough. I think we were all wishing that. But it was still there, slowly descending to the ground.

The pressure was dropping further. I felt like I was going to suddenly leave the ground at any moment, float upwards into the air. All sound was driven from my ears except the sound of my own thudding heart. Fahd said something, but I couldn't hear it, just see him mouthing words. Bizarrely, I noticed that Mai's hair was sticking on end, each strand floating outwards. Sean's was too. Only Fahd seemed unchanged, with his shorter hair. It was almost funny.

The ship touched the ground, and the pressure suddenly flooded back, the purple-blow lights at the back disappearing. My ears popped once more, excruciatingly painfully. I heard Sean swear and Mai moan.

"We should run." Sean whispered. But he didn't move at all. I don't think any of us could have run. The fear was so great it grabbed your limbs, froze your muscles, stilled your blood. I felt like lead. All I could do was stand like a rabbit caught in the headlights, watching the ship. This was too important to run from.

Now it was closer, I could see it more clearly. It was covered in what looked like scorch marks, parts of the metal burnt and melted. One of the wings had what looked like a chunk blasted off it, leaving a charred black gap. The tip of the stinger had been bent slightly to one side.

"It looks kinda smashed up..." I whispered.

"Yeah..." Fahd agreed. "It doesn't look as big as I expected, either."

"We should get the hell out of here, guys." said Sean. "Seriously, this shit is for real. What if it's dangerous? We should warn someone, phone the police or something."

"Oh, that's a sensible idea." said Mai sarcastically. "Sure, the police will be totally capable of handling an alien spaceship capable of interstellar travel. If you're going to call anyone, call the army or something like that."

"We'd be famous for the rest of our lives..." I said quietly. I'd always dreamed of being a famous footballer, but being famous for being one of the first people to encounter an alien life form? Not something I'd ever seen coming, that's for sure.

"Shouldn't we try and do something, then?" suggested Mai. "I don't know, try to talk to it or something?" She looked over the spaceship as though an explanation would suddenly leap out of it and present itself to us. "'We come in peace', maybe?"

We all briefly looked at each other, then everyone looked at me. I don't know why. Maybe if if it had been Mai or Sean or Fahd, things would have turned out differently. I stepped forward, waving my arms in a slow motion above my head, like a giant wave. I'm not sure what I was thinking, seeing as aliens probably have wildly different gestures to what we do.

"We come in peace! Can you take us to your leader?" I said, half jokingly.

"Will they even speak English?" Fahd wondered.

"Everyone does in Doctor Who..." said Sean after a moment's pause.

"That's because the TARDIS automatically translates everything." Fahd replied. "How could you not know that?"

Mai and I laughed a little, partly at the inanity of what Fahd had just said and partly from sheer gut-wrenching nervousness.

"Welcome to Earth! Please, don't be afraid to come out. Don't worry, we're perfectly safe."

«I know.»

To this day, I still find it hard explaining what that felt like. It wasn't speech, not speech at all. Wasn't even sound. I heard it, but not with my ears. It's difficult to describe. I've said roughly what it means in English, but it wasn't English at all - it was a bundle of thoughts and feelings and emotions.

Somehow, someone... or something had managed to convey they fact that they understood me, by replying within my mind. That wasn't all, either. Behind those thoughts, I could feel an undercurrent of... pain? Fear? Desperation? I couldn't tell which.

Everyone seemed to have felt that same connection. Sean turned white as a corpse, and Mai swayed slightly. Fahd looked at me briefly, and I nodded. We both knew what the other was thinking. We didn't need to ask, it was clear everyone had heard it just as we had.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice somewhat softer. Whatever this thing was, it seemed more scared than we were.

«I am coming out. Do not be alarmed.» It had seemingly ignored my question, but I think it wanted to hear the answer even less than we did.

"We're fine." Fahd said.

There was a hissing sound. Pneumatic, maybe? It was followed by a few clicks and then a rusting groan, and then, in the side of the spaceship's main cylinder, a hatch began to open slowly. Red lights flickered arrhythmically from the hatch, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Then, he appeared.

Bizarre. No, beyond bizarre. He was a crazy mish-mash of human and deer thrown together, with just a tad bit of slug and scorpion, and given a nice coating of blue paint to round it all off.

Sorry. That was a fairly crappy description. I'll start again.

The main body looked like something from a deer, or perhaps a small horse. It was covered in short, smooth hair, that ranged between a very dark blue, almost bordering on purple, to a lighter tan colour on his underside. The hooves looked almost normal in contrast, the same sort of black-ish colour you'd expect from an Earth hoofed animal.

Where the torso of a deer would meet the neck, however, his formed an oddly humanoid upper-body – shoulders, arms, chest, and head. The arms and shoulders seemed much thinner than human ones, though – there didn't seem to be any real sign of biceps, just two rather under-muscled arms. The horse section began roughly below the chest – I could see two clearly defined abdominal muscles, but after that the hair began to grow and the humanoid part merged into the equine part. Even the skin was a pale shade of blue, though.

As he fully moved out of the ship, I could see that even his head was no way near normal. There was no visible mouth, at all. His nose was odd – it consisted of three vertical slits, two smallish ones roughly where they'd be on a human nose, and one much larger one that appeared to divide the nose in two. The eyes didn't seem so bad at first. They were a very deep shade of green, but were in the same place on the head as human ones would be. Or at least, the first set was. Because, placed on top of his head, were two... tentacle things, I guess? They were like you'd see on a slug, and they moved freely. At the tip of each one was a set of eyes.

This was freaky enough, but then you saw the real deal. Where you'd expect the horse to have a tail, this guy didn't. Instead, the body continued into a sort of scorpion tail, which looked bulky, muscular and dangerous. At the end was a viciously curved and sharpened stinger – it looked long enough to easily lash out in front of him. It reminded me of his ship, they both looked cool but harmless, until you saw the tail.

"Welcome." said Fahd. I noticed Fahd was silently crying, tears dripping down his face. I knew exactly how he felt. It sounds odd, I know, but it was like we'd known the alien forever. Like he was an old family friend, that I hadn't seen in a long time. I'd have willingly done anything he'd asked in that very moment.

I guess, in a way, I did.

«Hello.» the alien said in that strange way that spoke directly to your feelings.

"Hello." we replied.

The alien took two hesitant steps, then his legs buckled beneath him, and he collapsed to the ground. We heard a mental cry of anguish in our heads, and it was horrible. My soul feels open to the agony he was feeling. Quickly, Mai ran over, and began to move him so that he was lying on his side – recovery position, I guess. His upper body looked humanoid enough that it may have helped.

"Ah!" she suddenly gasped, and feel backwards. Her hands were covered with blood. It looked so similar to human blood I felt physically sick – it had the same deep, dark red timbre that our own blood does. We could now clearly see the gaping wound in his side that had been hidden while he'd stood facing us.

"You're... you're hurt!"

«Yes.»

There was a long pause.

«I am dying.»

"It doesn't look too bad. Here, let me have look." Sean wheeled himself over swiftly. Sean wants to be a doctor, so he can help people like himself. However, I had the feeling he was lying. The wound looked bad.

"You'll be fine if we can get you to a hospital."

«There is not just this wound. I am poisoned, and it burns my mind, saps my strength. I will die.»

"But... you can't!" I almost shouted at him. "We won't let you! You're an alien. The first alien to land on this planet. You can't just die!"

«I... I am not the first. Nor will I be the last.»

"There are more of you?" Fahd whispered gently.

«No. They are different.»

Again, there was an undercurrent of emotion, but this time it was different. It was hatred. Pure hatred. It almost scared me, the depths of his loathing. Then, as quickly as it had come, it sank, to be replaced by an ever-rising tide of agony. I could feel him dying, dying as I watched.

«They are not like my kind!»

I felt this sinking feeling in my stomach. I was about to ask a question, but I had the horrible feeling I already knew the answer.

"What are they?" I whispered, my voice barely more than a croak.

Yet another pause. This one was different, though. He was struggling to keep his mind together, to focus, to talk to us. To stay alive.

«They are here to destroy you.»

«They are Yeerk.»


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

A chill spread through my mind, a glacial onslaught that purged all hope, dread, joy, sorrow, leaving nothing but an icy calmness. All emotion died. I felt sharp, brittle, frozen. Everything seemed so much more real, so much more matter of fact. There was an Andalite. He was dying. The Yeerk are here. They are here to destroy us. There was no room for any other thoughts, no room for doubt or fear.

They are here to destroy us.

«I am sorry. I only wish it could be otherwise.»

"You mean they're here already? On Earth?"

«At least one hundred and twenty thousand, yes. Possibly many more.»

"Surely we'd have noticed an army of small grey men wandering around the planet by now?" Mai questioned. Her tone was almost pleading, like she wanted the Andalite to suddenly admit that there were no Yeerk, that it had all been some kind of prank.

«No. Yeerk are not like that. Not like me. Not like you. They live within the bodies of other creatures. They are...»

I can't really describe this next thought as words, as I've done so far, so I'll explain it as I saw it. An image suddenly appeared in the forefront of my mind, so vivid it seemed almost superimposed in my vision. It was... slug-like. It was a sickening sort of grey-white colour, with irregular pink blotches – a corpse-like complexion. At the front it had the same eyes on stalks thing that snails have, only this had no shell. The size was hard to judge from the image. Slightly smaller than a rat, I guess.

«Yeerk are parasites. They must have a host body to live within, and it must be a creature with a central nervous system, and an external orifice of a certain width that leads directly to the central nervous system. They enter the brain through the orifice, and spread themselves out extremely thinly over the prefrontal cortex, or any equivalents, and in doing so, take over the host's body and thoughts. A Yeerk within a host is known as a Controller. Hosts can resist, at least a very little bit, but most either give up shortly or voluntarily accept the Yeerk. Without hosts, Yeerk are powerless.»

Just as he finished speaking, another spasm of pain coursed through him, and his despair grew deeper.

Only... I don't think it was despair, any more. Now that I look back, I think it was sadness. Sadness for the way things are.

"So you're saying these things are body snatchers?" Sean demanded. "They just... take over people, just like that?"

"Why are you telling us? Why not the government or the United Nations? We're just a bunch of teens, nobody would even believe us."

«We did not know..»

«The galaxy is vast. You are 27 parsecs away from the centre – that places you on the border of space known to Andalites. We did not know about you until very recently, when we discovered that one of the Yeerk Sub-Vissers was only using half of his available forces. The rest had retreated into unknown space. I was sent to command a Dome Ship, to investigate Yeerk movements. We knew he had a half fleet of fighter ships, mostly Weevil Fighters and Scarab Gunships, with a few heavier Deathwatch Cruisers, stationed around that area but he surprised us – there was a Blade Ship hiding just above the surface of Jupiter. We'd just finished a scan of your planet, checking your international computer bases – "The Pentagon" seemed to be a frequent one - when they ambushed us, and boarded our Dome Ship. We fought... but we lost.»

"How do we know you aren't a Controller, then?" Sean said. It sounds kinda stupid now, but even then I knew what he was trying to say. How can you be sure of anything when your enemy could be anyone?

«There are no known Andalite Controllers. We each have a chip installed in our ear canal which will detonate if intrusion is detected or it is tampered with in any way. And... if that fails... if the worst comes to the worst, we have our tails and we have our dignity.»

It took me a while to understand what he meant. I blanched slightly when I did.

«I will die shortly. They will dispose of my body and my ship – they would not want humans to find it. Their Mantis Rays will leave nothing behind but... ashes.»

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Fahd spoke gravely.

«What do you mean?»

"It's a phrase humans use to honour the dead."

The eyes of the Andalite seemed to smile.

«Thank you. Although, I do not think I am worthy of your honour. Now, quickly! You have no time. You must tell your people!»

Again, his body arched and twisted, his legs kicking out wildly. He was almost gone.

"You don't understand." I said. "We have no authority. No-one would believe us. We're just a bunch of teens. People would say we'd gotten drunk or high or something. If the Yeerks destroy you and your ship, we'll have nothing." I was trying to keep my voice as level as possible, to hide the creeping desperation. I didn't want the Andalite to have to suffer a hysterical human child in his last moments.

"Surely we could get you out of here quickly? We could place you in my wheelchair, and Lyall could carry me, or something." offered Sean.

«Not enough time. Not enough...» He was struggling now. His thoughts seemed slightly scattered. «Taxxon venom runs strong in my veins.» His eyes cleared briefly, and he managed to hold my gaze. «Unless... I have an idea.»

"Yes?"

«Go into my ship. You will see a small cube, of a pale blue colour. Bring it to me, quickly! The Yeerks cannot be far away.»

There was a brief pause as everyone looked at each other. Sean probably couldn't even get into the ship, and Mai seemed too scared. Fahd briefly looked me in the eye, and I lost.

"Go on, Lyall." Fahd said. "We'll stay with him." I looked at them. Fahd and Mai and Sean, all with the Andalite. They were right, I should go. They were friends, and I was not. I was only here because of a prank played by Jack. I didn't fit in with their group.

I walked to the entrance of the spaceship. The hatch was still open, and the red light was still pulsing. It was coming from a strange display at the front of the ship – it looked like a hologram, almost, a kind of dashboard made of light that floated in mid-air. There weren't many controls that I could make out. The inside itself was simple, a kind of bleached white colour like you get in hospitals. Everything was rounded in an oval shape – rounded edges and sides. It seemed almost relaxing.

There was blood spattered irregularly over the floor, presumably the Andalite's.

The blue box wasn't hard to spot. It lay on top of a smooth surface towards the back of the ship. It was glowing ever so softly with a pale blue metallic lustre, which is why I saw it so easily. I'd guess it was maybe four inches each side. I tentatively touched it, half expecting an electric current to surge out of the box, killing me instantly, or any other number of such horrors. Instead, nothing happened. Emboldened, I picked up the box. It was surprisingly heavy for its size, I almost dropped it. It felt ever so slightly odd to hold. You know when there's a really bad storm coming, and the air feels tight and drawn? Well, that's what holding felt like. Like the calm before the storm.

I left the ship, and went back to where the Andalite lay. I held out the box, afraid of what it might mean.

«This is my gift to you. It may help you fight the Yeerks. I know you are young, even by the standards of your species, but you are the only hope for your kind. You may not have the weapons or abilities of a warrior, but I can grant you this.»

"What is it?"

«It is one of the last pieces of Andalite technology the Yeerk have yet to pirate, and possibly our greatest. My kind has never before shared this power... but your species numbers in the billions. If the Yeerk were to use humankind as an army, this war would be lost. You are our hope, which is why I entrust you with this. It will give you the power to morph.»

"What do you mean, "morph"?" asked Sean, shifting forward in his wheelchair slightly.

«The ability to metamorphose your form. To alter your base DNA to that of any other species. To become another animal.»

"You have to be kidding me. Become an animal? Any animal?" Mai looked disbelieving.

«Yes. All you must do is touch another animal, in order to acquire its DNA, and then, you will be able to become that creature. There are limitations, and dangers, even, but if you have the willpower and the courage to try, I am sure you will succeed. There is no time to explain the details. You will have to learn for yourselves. Now, will you accept this power?»

"With great power, comes great responsibility." Mai said, only half jokingly.

I don't think any of us could have said no. The Andalite was dying, and our world was in danger. Perhaps the whole of space was in danger. Even so, there was a silent moment that seemed to stretch on for almost ever. So many thoughts were spinning round inside my head. Aliens! Andalites, Yeerks! Spaceships, morphing! Controllers! And we, four humans among six billion, had had the misfortune to bear the burden to deal with it...

Fahd spoke first. "I accept." His voice was absolutely firm.

I looked at him, saw the certainty in his eyes. "We need to decide together, Fahd. This decision will affect the rest of our lives. We won't be able to walk away if we make the wrong choice."

"What choice?" he replied. "I don't see a choice, Lyall. If you honestly think we could say no to this, that we could leave and pretend this never happened, you are a fool. If you turn your back now, then who will stop the Yeerk. There is no choice. No choice at all."

"Maybe the Andalites will win. Maybe they'll defeat the Yeerk, maybe we won't have to fight! They'll know one of their ships has crashed, they'll send another!" I was pleading with Fahd now.

"You heard him as well as I did, Lyall." said Mai. "If we don't fight, the Andalites can't win. Earth would be little more than a vast expendable army to the Yeerk."

I knew I'd lost, and I snapped. "Damn you! Why did have you have to crash your fucking ship here! Why did you have to fucking ruin my life! I'm just an ordinary guy, nothing special about me. You want to turn me into some kind of fucking freedom fighter, and I won't fucking do it!"

"This isn't about you, Lyall!" Fahd shouted back. Somehow, we were facing each other now, almost nose to nose, as we stared each other down. "This is about so much more than you! This is about the human race. Do you even goddamn understand that? The whole human race!"

Sean suddenly pointed up into the sky. I broke Fahd's gaze first, more to escape that look than to see where Sean was pointing.

"Look." he said.

Where he pointed, more hazes could be seen above in the sky. Ever so slight a red blur could be seen behind them, an angry crimson red.

«Yeerks.» spat the Andalite, his hatred once again rising.

Fahd spoke quietly now. "Lyall, you have to make your choice. You are our leader, whether you like it or not. Mai would hate it, Sean couldn't do it, and I wouldn't know where to start. But you... you inspire people to listen to you. Even people like Jack listen. Right now, I don't see that, all I see is a craven, spineless bastard. But I know you better than that. So, whatever decision you are going to make...

...make it now!"


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

The red blurs seemed to be circling in the sky now, like they were searching for something. There was a menacing feel to them. Sharp, predatory, like sharks who've scented blood in the water.

Mai spoke first. "Even if the rest of you don't, I will." She looked scared, but was standing firm. She looked almost beautiful, but perhaps beautiful isn't quite the right word.

Sean nodded. "I'm with Mai." The dreamer, the loner, stuck in a wheelchair, and now willing to put his life on the line and be a hero.

"You know what I think." said Fahd. My first real friend. He looked taller than ever now, and his glasses caught the flickering red glare of the Andalite ship, making him seem an imposing figure.

I made my choice.

"I'd like more time, but I don't have it..." I said, somewhat sadly. "I guess... I guess if we ever want to stop these Controller people, we have to. I'm in."

«Then press one of your hands against a side of the cube.»

Four hands were raised, and placed tentatively against the side of the cube. Then, a six-fingered blue hand joined ours.

I looked at the sixth face of the cube, the one with no hand. I suddenly had this weird feeling, looking at that empty side. A chill, that ran all through my body. A foreboding. It lingered briefly, then sank into the recesses of my mind.

«Relax. Let your fears go.» the Andalite said.

As he said this, a feeling flowed out of the cube into my body. It was difficult to describe, but it made everything feel right. For a moment, I was calm, composed. It washed straight through you, sweeping over all resistance.

«The end approaches.» the Andalite said. «Just remember this – never, ever stay morphed for longer than a twelfth of an earth lunar cycle! Of all the dangers morphing presents, that is the greatest! For if you remain in a morph and longer, you will be trapped, forced to retain that form forever more, never to be human again. And now... my final gift.»

He closed his eyes, concentrating. As he did so, he spoke.

«I am about to give each of you some of my memories. In times to come, they may help you. When I open my eyes, I will remember you no longer. You must leave, now!»

There was the sensation of openness in my mind. You know when you are in a room, and somebody opens the door, and you feel a draught of air? It was like that, except in my mind. Then, I could feel something inside my mind that wasn't me, strange, and alien. A wall surrounded it, impenetrable to my thoughts.

With it came a command that pulled at my muscles, forcing them to move. I began to run, as did the others, brushing through the long corn stalks.

The Andalite then spoke. He wasn't talking to us any more. His thoughts were almost directed at the bright, sunlight sky itself. His word were calm, measured. I think he knew they were his last.

«I am Avandas-Errendir-Erissia! I am the servant of the People. I am the servant of my prince. I am the servant of honor. My life is not my own, when the People have need of it. My life is given for the People, for my prince, and for my honor!»

Then, the Andalite's mind was silent.

Suddenly, a giant red spotlight flickered from the first Yeerk ship, blindingly bright, making the Andalite's body seem like a blazing crimson star. The second ship suddenly veered round, and sent a similar beam down, fixating on the Andalite's body. It barely brushed passed us, and flickered over Mia's shoulder for a split-second before Fahd pulled her bodily out of the way.

He then dived down, and began to crawl under the stalks, hidden from view. Mai did likewise. I heaved Sean out of his wheelchair, and he clasped his hands round my chest, then I too began to crawl into the tunnels formed under the corn stalks. Sean's weight forced me into the ground, and a stone sliced into my knees. I could feel a trickle of blood run down my leg, but I didn't dare make a noise. We were hidden from the Yeerk above.

Fahd tried moving further, but it caused the corn stalks above him to rustle and sway. If it had been night, we might have stood a chance, but in the bright daylight, they'd see our movement easily. We were lucky enough to have made it under the corn without getting noticed, nobody wanted to put luck to the test again.

Then, through the slight gaps in the corn stalks above, we watched as the hazes began to shimmer and solidify, like the Andalite ship had. They looked like giant overgrown insects, a kind of legless beetle, an iridescent blue metal on the upper side, and a black covering underneath, and were around four times bigger than the Andalite ship had been. Two windows were placed either side of the "head" of the insect, making them seem creepily like eyes. Out of the underside of the head, two serrated edges stuck out like mandibles. Along each side of the body, three sets of guns turrets protruded. You could see why it was called a Scarab Gunship.

Then, we saw something even more terrifying. High above in the air, a third haze. However, this one was vast, easily ten times the size of the two ships below.

From that section of my mind that was walled off, I heard a... memory? Some how, I knew what that ship was, because I had seen one before. Or at least, I had seen one before in my memories. I realised that this was what the Andalite... what Avandas had meant. He had seen one of these ships, and now I remembered it. It was a Blade Ship.

_The Blade Ship came from nowhere, cannons firing everywhere. It looked like a blacker than black dragonfly, with a bridge at the front of the long, narrow shaft. Close to the head were two giant "wings", from which engines flared. The alarms were blaring inside the Dome Ship. We were in deep trouble now, we couldn't fight off Yeerk in these numbers. Suddenly_

The memory sank as quickly as it had come. I quickly looked at Fahd and Mai, and saw that they were also looking at me. I guessed Sean was too, although as he was on top of me, I couldn't tell for sure.

"Did you guys...?" I said weakly.

They both nodded. I guess they "remembered" it too.

The Scarab Gunships had landed now, one either side of the Andalite ship, crushing further crops.

Then, the larger ship began to descend, and the haze rippled, clearing, solidifying. It looked just as it had in the memory. I began to feel like some kind of small insect, an aphid perhaps, watching as the dragonfly closed in.

The ship touched down on the corn, dwarfing the other ships. I wondered if anybody in the town had seen anything? This place was around three miles out of town, so they may have seen the haze, but the hill probably kept the spaceships out of sight. You wouldn't know they were there unless you crossed the hill, and the haze would probably be passed off as a heat wave, especially in the summer like this. We were on our own, it seemed.

The door of the Blade Ship opened.

Man, that was some scary shit right there.

Imagine a whirlwind made of blades. That's what came out of the ship, serrated edges dancing back and forth. These creatures looked like a sword smith's nightmare come real. They were dinosaur like, with green scales and legs that bent back like birds. On the wrist and elbow of each arm was a pair of horn-blades. Their claws were long and sharpened, and the talon on the thumb was much, much longer than the others. There were also blades on the backs of their knees, and smaller ones coming from the ankles. To top it off, their long tails were covered in around four or five of the spikes. Fortunately, the tails did look more like raptor tails from Jurassic Park, more for balance and stability, than actually wounding anything, like the Andalite scorpion tail. The claws and wrist-blades seemed the bigger threat.

What really stood out, though, was the head. Rather than jaws, the mouth had a beak, like some kind of bird of prey, except inside the beak, were teeth. Weirdly, they weren't dagger-like teeth, like I expected, but looked big and flat. Crushers, not slicers. The eyes were a sort of olive-yellow, with a dark brown pupil. They looked keen and focused. Running along the top of the head another three horns curved forwards. These creatures

_were the Hork-Bajir. I pitied their kind. They had been completely enslaved by the Yeerk now, and yet behind the Controller lay a peaceful race. I didn't want to hurt them. Didn't want to hurt the innocent victim inside. However, I had no choice. The Andalite Senate had commanded that we_

Nobody dared say a word. We had no idea how good their hearing was. Perhaps they could hear our beating hearts right now, and were just waiting...

I was distracted from this thought by the next nightmare to slither out of the Blade Ship. Imagine centipedes, only huge. Each one was maybe four metres long, although the front quarter was raised upright. They were as thick as dustbins. The back three quarters were supported by three-jointed exoskeletal legs. These legs became smaller claws towards the front. The main body was a pale white colour, like a maggot.

Upon the head of these vile creatures, eight eyes were embedded – they gleamed a dull red. And, at the very uppermost point of the head, there was a circular opening, lined with row after row after row of tiny, vicious teeth.

They quickly filled the area. I'd have guess maybe twenty Hork-Bajir and ten Taxxon? It was scary how silently the Hork-Bajir moved. You couldn't hear them at all. The Taxxon were more noisy – their legs clicked and rustled as they walked. The Hork-Bajir were wielding what were definitely weapons. Imagine a pistol, only with a grip designed for a four clawed dinosaur in mind. That's basically it. The Taxxon didn't have any weapons, but looking at them, I guess they didn't really need it.

The majority were crowding around the body of the Andalite, but some of the Taxxon and the Hork-Bajir were circling around, creating a ring around the proceedings.

One Taxxon suddenly scuttled nearer so that it was no more than two metres away from the corn patch under which we were hiding, bringing with it a horrible smell, like something rotting and decaying. I shuddered and

_I shuddered at just the sight of them. Taxxon! All they existed for was to devour, devour, devour! What a waste of an intelligent life, to have every aspect of a consciousness dedicated towards a single end, fulfilling a ravenous hunger. They were evil even without their Yeerk Controllers. A single bite was extremely dangerous, as they injected digestive fluids with each bite, to soften their food even before it was dead. These fluids acted almost like a poison. I readied my tail blade, preparing to_

The Taxxon suddenly turned, and looked dead at where we were. I had no idea how good its eyesight was. Could it see us, through the gaps? Could it see four terrified humans, cowering away? Was it about to strike? I wish I could have been anywhere, anywhere but here. It was almost tempting to jump out, to be devoured, to take death rather than endure the fear. If it had eyesight anything like a human, we were dead.

Dead.


End file.
